Fish Sauce Substitute

This Fish Sauce Substitute is perfect for replacing both fish sauce and soy sauce. If you are trying to avoid fish & soy sauce, this recipe is for you!

It’s been over 16 years since I became vegetarian and quit eating fish sauce entirely. I then relied on soy sauce to season any dish that requires fish sauce. As soy sauce plays an important role make my food taste good, I started to look into making my own soy sauce at home. 

I was fascinated with how soy sauce is made traditionally. I did a lot of research, experimented, and adapted the method and recipe to make it at home. Please check out the video I have made about it.

Even though the process is fascinating and beautiful, it’s not quite practical to do on a regular basis. With the climate and the house environment differences where in North America where I live, I had to find a different way to make a homemade Fish Sauce Substitute that is more practical. 

I’m proud to introduce you to this Fish Sauce Substitute recipe. To make this I still use many of the methods I use to make traditional Korean style soy sauce, but I cut down the time by a lot.

Instead of the 14 months traditional Korean style soy sauce takes me, this Fish Sauce Substitute is finished in  only 10 days or so. However, this doesn’t include the time to sprout the beans I use–which is another 2 days. So, the maximum time to make this Fish Sauce Substitute is less than 2 weeks!

As for the main ingredients, all soy sauce uses soybeans. Since so many people I know can’t eat soy beans, I have adapted this recipe to use either black beans or garbanzo beans (chickpeas) instead.

Both kinds of beans work great. The final product is very delicious, and you can taste the real flavor of the beans you use.

To mimic the umami flavor in fish sauce, I use kombu seaweed and dried shiitake mushrooms. Good quality dried shiitake mushrooms can be expensive, so I usually dry my own and almost always keep them on hand.  

This Fish Sauce Substitute recipe is flexible, and you can certainly adjust the saltiness the way you like. It’s not exactly the same as real fish sauce or traditional soy sauce, but I accept the fact that it’s a substitute!

With the umami and a little bit tangy flavor from a few days of fermenting, this sauce is very tasty. It’s great even with just a plain bowl of warm rice.

One of the best things about making this Fish Sauce Substitute is that I always end up with the tastiest chickpeas-kombu and dried shiitake soup as the byproducts. The fermentation flavor makes this soup delicious and very unique. 

Just add filtered water to the scraps–nothing else. It’s already full of flavor. The combination of the salt and fermentation give it  tangy & umami flavor that can’t be had by using just regular chickpeas. 

After adding water to it, simmer it and serve it  warm. If you squeeze some lemon into it, it’s even better–my mouth waters talking about this!

There is one thing to keep in my though: this Fish Sauce Substitute doesn’t have any preservatives. I usually keep it in the fridge after each use. It should be fine leaving it out for a few days. However, it will continue to ferment, and the flavor will be too sour than it should be. Therefore, refrigeration it is a better option.

Ready to to make your own Fish Sauce Substitute? Let me show you how!

Ingredients:

1. About 3 cups (600 g) of sprouted garbanzo beans or black beans if you prefer. Note: use 1 cup or (200 g) of dried beans to sprout and you’ll get about 3 cups of sprouted beans
2. 4-5 pieces of kombu seaweed
3. 7-8 dried shiitake mushrooms
4. 2-3 TBSP (30-45 g) of good salt. If you like it’s saltier, use 3 TBSP (45 g). I usually like to use about 2 ½ TBSP (38 g), but feel free to experiment with the way you like it.
5. 1 TBSP (15 g) of molasses
6. Filtered water

Instructions:

Start by sprouting the garbanzo beans. Note: this step is optional. It’s totally fine if you prefer to skip it, but you still need to soak them for at least a few hours–preferably overnight. If you sprout them, I made a video on how to sprout chickpeas already: please check it out. Now, assuming you already have sprouted chickpeas.

1. Day 1, rinse the sprouted chickpeas well. 
2. Cover them with double the amount of filtered water to the volume of the beans and cook on medium heat until the water evaporates and the chickpeas are soft. Once they are sprouted, they are very easy to cook.
3. Meanwhile, prepare the kombu seaweed and dried shiitake mushrooms.
4. Cut the kombu into small sizes, and rinse them together with the dried shiitake. Set them aside to dry.
5. When the chickpeas are cooked, let them cool while preparing the brine. 
6. In a ½ gallon (2 litre) sterilized glass jar, add the salt followed by some warm water. Mix well so the salt dissolves. Note: You can use room temperature water if you prefer. I use warm water as the salt dissolves faster.
7. Add the kombu and dried shiitake mushrooms. Give it a quick stir, then add the beans followed by room-temperature filtered water, and mix well. Note: now is a good time to taste and adjust the saltiness. 
8. Cover the jar with a breathable cloth or use a fermenting lid that can receive an airlock. Note: both methods work well. 
9. Let it ferment for 3-5 days depending on the temperature in your house. If it’s warm, it usually takes 3 days, but if it’s cold, 4-5 days is perfect. When you can see a lot of bubbles in the jar, you can tell that the fermentation is going well. If you let it ferment for too long, the sauce will be too sour (unless you put a lot of salt in it).
10. Day 5: Strain and save the scraps.
11. On medium heat, bring the sauce to a boil.
12. Now, if you like, you can use the scraps to make soup. It’s very tasty and easy to digest. If you want to make the soup like I usually do, just cover the scraps with filtered water and let it simmer until you are ready to eat. You can squeeze some lemon juice in when you serve it. It’s really tasty.
13. When the sauce starts to boil, stir it frequently and let it cook for about 10 more minutes.
14. Turn the heat off and add molasses and stir until it dissolves. Molasses adds a sweet flavor and a darker color to the sauce. Feel free to adjust the taste and color to your own liking. I like to add just 1 TBSP (15 g) or less to mine.
15. When it cools, put it in a glass jar. Loosely cover it with a lid, and let it ferment at room temperature for another 3-5 days. This second fermentation will help the flavor develop more.
16. Day 9 or 10, Strain and bottle the sauce. 
17. Put a few layers of cheesecloth in a non-metal strainer and carefully strain the sauce. Try to keep the sediment out as much as you can. It’s edible and tasty, but it makes the sauce cloudy. 
18. Transfer the sauce to any kind of glass jars and keep it in the fridge. It will last for a long time Note: during this time, you might notice a thin white film on top. Don’t worry–it’s normal. The white film happens to any kind of fermented food that doesn’t have a lot of salt. You can scoop it off if it bothers you, but it’s safe to eat.
19. Enjoy!

Have you made Fish Sauce Substitute before? Share it with me, I’d like to hear about it!